Austin's 30th Birthday

 

I decided that Austin turning 30 was a pretty big deal (although he wasn't terribly excited about it). I figured he deserved a week-long celebration for making it so far. Luckily his birthday week landed on his sleep-medicine rotation, which was pretty chill. It was nice having one last fun and relaxing week before his schedule went crazy with inpatient peds...but that's another subject. 

The morning of his birthday, I made Trader Joes chocolate croissants for breakfast. And when I say "made" I mean that I actually remembered to take them out of the freezer and put them on a pan to defrost the night before, and stuck them in the oven before Austin had to go to work. These are so easy, quick, and simply amazing! Imagine flakey warm croissant fresh from the oven filled with dark chocolate... I highly recommend these.

Austin's breakfast before I served it to him in bed

  

After Austin left, Lydia and I went to Sentry to get some birthday balloons - Lydia helped pick them out!

 

Both girls seemed to know that it was a special day and were very good while we prepped for daddy's birthday celebration

Rouladen is a German dish that Austin fell in love with on his mission, so I had to learn how to make it when we got married. It's pretty much bacon, onions, and mustard wrapped up in a really thin steak - it makes the BEST gravy!

Chocolate Goodie is Austin's favorite dessert - which is a big deal since, sadly, he does not share my sweet tooth. He requested this instead of birthday cake. It's essentially a graham cracker crust/pudding/whipped cream dessert. It's light, creamy, chocolatey, and delicious!

I couldn't tell who was more excited to sing, eat dessert, and open presents!

Lydia colored on a card for Daddy's birthday

 The day after his birthday, I was able to get a free ballroom dance lesson through a lady in the ward. It was so nice to be able to go out on a date - which we actually ended up doing two days in a row!!! That is a pretty big deal when you have two little kiddos. We had a great time and hope to be able to pick it up as a hobby when time and finances allow. 

The next day was Friday, and we had reservations to go eat dinner at Devons Seafood Grill at the Bayshore Mall. We ended up ordering lobster, and Austin and I both got free desserts since it was his birthday. I didn't want to make Austin suspicious by suggesting that we skip dessert (which I would never normally do) but we had a surprise party and tons of food and friends ready for him when we got back.

 

 When we were ready to head back, I sent a text to our neighbor, Emily, who was getting everything set up for Austin's surprise party while we were out. I was really worried about the fact that our GPS seemed to be lying to us and we were getting home faster than I anticipated. As we drove up, I saw some people in front of our apartment, and I assumed people may still be arriving. Austin was distracted by wondering why all the lights were off in our neighboring apartment building, and speculated that the power was off... I convinced him that I needed to swing by Sentry really quick to pick up some gum (I never buy gum). He went along with me and suggested that we go pick up the girls from Emily's apartment before going to ours. I reminded him that Emily said that they'd be at our place with the girls, which Austin didn't think was right since the lights in our apartment were off. We were in the stairwell of our apartment at this point and Austin was hesitating and ready to walk out the door to go to the Pugh's place for the girls, when Brynlee saved the day and decided to let out a cry. Convinced that they were actually there, he walked in our dark apartment, someone turned on the lights and everyone yelled "Surprise!" 

Haha, so Austin has been teasing me lately about how I'm such a terrible liar and open book (we've been watching "Lie to Me" and testing it's basic premise). I redeemed myself and I'm pretty sure he was honestly surprised. I did have to make up several little white lies to pull it off, and he had NO idea! It was very fun and I'm happy that so many of our friends and neighbors could join us to celebrate. It was a good time and Austin had fun. Poor Brynlee doesn't like surprises or being startled. She cries every time BYU scores a touchdown cause our cheering makes her nervous...we've had to tone it down a bit for her sake. Anyway, she cried and was so frightened after the big surprise. Hopefully she grows out of that cause it really is so much fun!

Singing Happy Birthday!

I can't believe I didn't catch the 3 being backwards...

Through this picture I found out that Christie and I are sorta related- a cousin of a cousin - pretty awesome!

That Saturday we wrapped up Austin's birthday week with a family hike on the trail by Hoyt Park. It's gorgeous there, especially this time of year! 

 

A train went by, which is how we managed to get both girls looking at the camera at the same time...which can be extremely difficult!

Austin taught Lydia how to throw rocks in the river

Afterwards, we headed home to watch BYU win their football game - which is a pretty good end to the week. Happy birthday Austin!